Part 9 a.k.a. I have no idea what to write about.

ok, just for a warning, a fact of life is that college students
have sex. I know, its a shock to me too, but THE DEED is mentioned
in this chapter...so if you're young, go away. It's not even bad, you see
more hentai on an average episode of Dawson's creek. but if you're
not allowed to watch the WB, go away. i don't own sailor moon, or any brand
names...
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Serena watched curiously as Zach shoved a thin screwdriver into the
black plastic casing of the cell phone and pry it open like he was shucking
clams. It didn't splice cleanly in half like he had expected, rather, it
cracked into several jagged, jigsaw pieces.
"Crap," he muttered to himself. Luna jumped off the table to retrieve
the strays while Amy reached across the table and swept the smaller fragments
into her hand. "Save those, I can put it back together." He picked up a
pair of needle-nose pliers and started fiddling with the guts of the cell
phone, while Amy tapped into her Palm Pilot with lightening speed.
"Here, look," she said, holding it up to Zach. He squinted at the
diagram while at the same time, tried to maneuver the tiny wires and chips
inside the phone.
"That's the screen, right?"
"Yes. I'll start trying to program them."
Serena had sat on the phone-doctoring session with every intention
to help; however, her position had been reduced to handing them things
and getting drinks. She picked up one of the finished products, a Nokia
cellular, with its usual special attachments: mini-video screens, hidden
camera, and emergency call button.
She sighed and picked up her philosophy book and flipped idly.
She had a paper to write. She hated writing papers. What were they going
to do with all of them, anyway? Stick them all together and write a book?
I've been good for a long time! I deserve to leave it to the last minute.
She took a small sip of Kool-Aid and let her mind flit around to any subject
that wasn't philosophy, mainly, "Days of Our Lives."
The door opened, and Darien, Kevin, Matt and Lita entered, Darien holding
a basketball, all four hot and sweaty, cloying up the air with the smell of
perspiration and…
"Youma!" Serena yelped, standing so quickly that her chair was knocked
backwards. Luna gasped. Zach and Amy looked up from their project, they too
smelling the acrid aroma that youma usually left behind.
Matt waved it off as if Girl Scouts had attacked them instead of unholy
Negaverse creatures. "It was just a little one. We took care of it no sweat."
Luna screwed her face into a kitty-scowl. "A little one? You should
have called us anyway; sometimes the smallest youma are the deadliest."
Serena rushed to Darien, having all good intentions of hugging him if the
smell hadn't repulsed her immediately. "Why didn't you call us? You could
have been killed, Mamo-chan!" Her baby blues filled with water.
He bristled under her pet name for him. Did she have to call me that in
front of everyone? "Don't worry Serena, believe me it was no challenge."
"It really wasn't," Lita reassured her, wiping her grimy forehead off
with her sleeve. "The only casualty was the basketball hoop, KUNZITE."
Kevin burned red. Zach gave a low whistle. "Was it the boomerangs
again? Jeez, Kev, you gotta get a handle on those things before you decapitate
someone."
"I'll show you decapitation…"
Serena patted his muscled forearm. "Don't worry about it, Kevin, you'll
get used to them." In truth, he had a good month now to get used to them,
and still during every battle they sailed out of control, lopping the top
off of anything unfortunate enough to be in its path. Numerous trees and
streetlights had been prematurely trimmed or demolished.
Matt was laughing. "They're not going to let you Down Under if you can't
throw the boomerang, mate." His Croc Hunter impression was one of the worst
Serena had ever heard, save for the transfer student from India in her human
development class.
Kevin backhanded him across his chest. "Whatever, punk, like you
didn't go crashing backwards through that fence every time you fired. Oh
and by the way, how does it feel to be dunked on?"
Matt grimaced, wondering why every time he was thrown backwards like
a rag doll, Lita was there to witness. "You dunked on Darien too. Twice."
"That's because Darien sucks."
"I do not suck!"
Serena wrinkled her small nose. "You guys smell."
Matt pulled his shirt up and sniffed it. "Yeah, we do." All of a
sudden, all four of them bolted towards the bathroom door, all arriving at
it at once, no one really getting ahead of the pack since the bulk of all
their bodies squashed together prohibited entry of a single person to break
away. Darien and Matt cleverly slammed their shoulders together, leaving
Kevin with no choice but to lower his shoulder and butt them into the door
instead of away from it. Lita took this opportunity to drop down and squiggle
between their legs and gain entry to the coveted bathroom. She slammed the
door in their faces with a triumphant, "HA!"
They backed away from the door, defeated, until Matt opened the door,
leaped in the bathroom, and re-slammed it. "HA!"
Darien and Kevin stood motionless for a moment, before they began a
new race to the refrigerator. Serena screeched and jumped out of their way,
lest she lose a major limb or two. A minor scuffle in front of the fridge
ensued, and someone's foot hit the table, rattling the ongoing project.
"Careful!" Zach admonished, gathering up the tiny screws and circuits
that they had scattered. "If I screw up this one then we actually have to
buy one of these stupid things."
Amy stopped her tapping and looked up at him suspiciously. Kevin threw
Darien a shoulder and got into the fridge first. Amy fixed her features
into a glare, an expression unfamiliar to her. Soon everyone was looking at Zach.
"Where did you get those, anyway?" Luna asked.
He launched into an explanation. "Well, remember that time that
there was an attack near that pawn shop? Yeah, well, anyway, after the
youma shattered the window I went in after it and yadda yadda yadda, I
figured that there was so much damage already that they wouldn't miss a few…"
Serena's jaw dropped. "You yadda-yadda'ed THEFT?"
He looked at each of them. Darien had to feign a coughing fit to hide
his laughter; the look on Zach's face was priceless.
"F*** you, dudes. If it wasn't for me then we'd be going hungry for
a month trying to save up for them." He snapped together two broken halves
of the cell phone, and rubbed his finger over the holes. Black plastic
materialized underneath his fingertips and filled in the cracks so well
that the phone seemed to be in mint condition.
Kevin handed the pitcher of Kool-Aid to Darien, who tilted his
head back and took a swig. Serena looked disgustedly down at her glass
and reminded herself not to drink anything out of their apartment that
wasn't sealed.
"When's Mina coming back?" Zach asked, bending back over his work.
Mina had flown down to L.A. for a photo shoot that weekend, just as she
had last weekend, and the weekend before that…
"Tonight," Kevin said, taking the pitcher back from Darien. "I'm
going to pick her up."
"Cool," Zach answered absent-mindedly. "You better take a shower before
then, you reek of youma."
"Just youma again?" Serena frowned. "No Generals."
"Not one in sight, love," Darien said. The Generals hadn't graced them
with their presence since that fateful first night.
"I wonder why Beryl's holding them back," Serena thought out loud.
She groaned. "Knowing our luck, they'll all come back looking like Robocop."
Luna's big red eyes swam with worry. "I almost feel like she's toying
with us, like she has some kind of ulterior motive."
Amy pulled up a different screen on her disguised computer. "Well, i
t is a possibility that she's training them or improving them in some
way, and she's planning on unleashing them all at once."
"Great," Kevin mumbled. Please let me learn how to throw a
friggin' boomerang before that.
Zach dropped his tool on the ground; his face had turned the color
of chalk. He heard his own voice saying,
"It's going to take a while, but I think I can improve them to
the point where they're indistinguishable from us, but hey, why the hell
would I want to do that? These will just have to do for now, but I don't
think anyone will notice."
"What is it?" Darien said. They could all recognize when one of
them was having a flashback, and it wasn't always reserved just to the
Generals. Mina experienced an impromptu flashback in the middle of chemistry,
and could only gather from it a blue dress. Luna jumped onto Zach's lap
and rubbed her head on his arm in what she thought was a reassuring manner.
Zach's color slowly returned. "I-I don't know. But whenever we
try and figure out where those bastards came from, I keep thinking…"
He swallowed, and talked directly to Amy. "I keep thinking I made them."
Amy shook her head. "But how? I can't remember the technology of
the Silver Millennium, unless there was heavy magical involvement, and
even if you did have the knowledge to 'create life' as I'll loosely term
it, why would you want to? What would be the purpose of making evil
versions of yourself?"
"Unless it was an accident," Kevin said, his voice so low and heavy
that it sent shivers up Serena's spine.
"Could be," Darien said simply. Serena looked at him, and he smiled.
"Just like it was an accident that Kevin dunked on me. Twice."
"You wish, Chiba." Another scuffle ensued.

* * * * * * * * * * *
Raye was dumbstruck.
She had gotten accustomed to Jay's offbeat personality the way
a person eases his/herself into frigid water inch by inch until they
no longer felt the chill shoot up their legs. So had she. Little by
little his cloying humor and intrusive personality had effectively chipped
away at her cool exterior, until she found life unexciting unless he was
there, pointing out the foibles to share and laugh at. They had gotten
together a few times, he mostly talking, she mostly laughing. Little
by little they revealed themselves to each other.
He was the middle of six children; he rattled off his siblings'
names so quickly she made him repeat them until she could too.
"Julia, Ben, oh crap," she faltered. "Christy?"
"Cara."
"Yeah that's it!" Somehow the name "Christy" had leaked into
her psyche, and the wrong moniker was forever stuck to the third
Melman. "Uh, can I start over? Julia, Ben, CARA, Jason, Sean, Joey!"
"Now do birthdays."
"What?"
"Just kidding."
The stories he told about his family, all the disasters and
foibles that made the Melman household the absolute anti sitcom-family
and Raye's new envy. Her life with her grandfather had been greatly
fulfilling, yet quiet, absent of the comfortable reach of an extended
family. She didn't have a brother like Ben, who "will one day lend
me great amounts of money that I will never, ever in my natural
life be able to repay. He's like that." Or color-coordinated laundry
baskets and assigned seating at dinner. Or trips to Disneyland
in the Franchise (the Melman's ancient van, complete with multiple
dents from driving lessons and decade-old Cheerios under the seats)
or the coast, or Christmas morning, soccer games, Monopoly nights
("My dad's a beast. Don't ever try to steal Marvin Gardens away
from him."), a thousand tears and laughs and the security of knowing
that there was a huge white house on the six hundred block of
Spring Street that you could crawl back to when life hit you too
hard and too fast and you needed Shake and Bake chicken legs and
the experience of sharing a bedroom with the sibling closest in age.
He had brought over a battered guitar, and Raye's immediate
reaction was: "Who did you steal that from?"
He sat on her bed. "Uh, from Alfred Polonauk?"
She sat next to him and smacked his arm. "Why!? Go give it back!"
"I would, Raye, but he gave it to me, he's my grandfather, and
he's dead." He pulled a yellow plastic pick out of his pocket.
Her jaw dropped. Have I breached the zone of civility here?
"Oh."
He smiled, loving the violet sparks that had erupted in died
somewhere in her irises. Or is it corneas? I really shouldn't fall
asleep in bio anymore. "You know what, Raye? I'm getting used to
you."
The sparks flared again, as Raye's already sensitive nerves
were grated the wrong way by the innocent comment. "What the hell
does that mean?"
His fingers strummed out the opening chords to "#41." "Whatever
you want it to mean, Raye."
He sat back against her headboard, and she snuggled against him,
the guitar straddled across her body. He reached around her and picked
up where he left off.
"Play something for me," Raye said, sticking her face into his
neck and inhaling at the place where his ear met his face. He involuntarily
shuddered.
"I am, see?"
"No, I mean, something you made up." Jay kissed the side of her
face.
"I would do anything for you, Raye." Now it was her turn to shudder.
No one had said anything of that caliber to her. He leaned down and
pressed his face in her hair, kissing it, feeling it sweep across his
face like a curtain of midnight. He managed to strum out two more chords
before their lips met and he relegated it to the ground, so his hands
could be free to touch her.
"Raye," he breathed her name. "I've never met anyone like you.
You make me feel so-" His lips became preoccupied. "I've never felt
like this with anyone. You're perfect."
"No, I'm not," she said, all the while thinking, Yes I am.
She drank up his words and kisses, and fell into a heap of bliss on top
of him. She needed him, perhaps more than he needed her. She needed
his humor, his lightness, his carefree attitude, his…
His rock hard abs.
She broke away and looked down to where her hand had settled, and
gathered a handful of shirt and yanked up. He had a six-pack, and a
pretty defined one at that.
"Yeah, like it?" She jerked her head up. What a cocky bastard!!
Boy, I'd love to show him a thing or two! I bet you he's never been
beat down by a girl!
"You!" She yelped, poking him harshly in his foresaid six-pack.
He reflexively curled up, throwing Raye off in the process. She tumbled
off the bed and onto the floor. He threw himself on top of her with a
WWF-yell.
"OOF! Why you-" He pressed his lips down on hers again, silencing
her. She accepted the kiss, countering it with her own all over his
face, running her hands through his hair. Their bodies pressed against
the others, creating heat that rubbed between them like a third entity.
The door opened.
Jay shot up, his shirt still pulled up around his armpits. Raye
sat up too, her hair hopelessly disheveled, and her mouth popped open
when she saw who was standing in the doorway.
"Mina!" she blurted. "You're not supposed to be home until tonight!
OH MY GOD WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?"
Mina had almost fainted when she saw Jay pop up from behind the
bed with his shirt almost off. I would walk in at a time like this!
Her hands automatically flew up to her dramatically shorter hair,
which stopped just a few inches below her shoulders. "They, they
wanted to cut it for the shoot," she explained. "Does it look that
bad?" She didn't think it had been that bad when they cut it, even though
it would require some curling iron action in the morning to make the
layers fall right.
"NO!" Jay immediately responded. He jumped up and straightened
out his clothing. "It looks great, Mina, it makes you look even hotter…oops,
did I say that?" He threw a little boy grin to Raye while flopping
backwards on her bed. Rather than chastising or cracking him, she
merely smiled back.
"No, it looks fine Mina, it's just a shock after seeing you with
long hair for all these years." It was the same reaction Raye gave herself
after she hacked off a good two feet before coming to the States: still
looked good, just different.
"I think I'm going to let it grow out again," Mina said miserably,
running her fingers through it. "I don't like it this short."
"Kevin'll like it. Hey, wasn't he supposed to pick you up from
the airport?" Jay stretched out on the bed and seemingly absent-mindedly
scratched his abs. Hey if it worked for Raye, I wonder what Mina
will think…
"I know, I was going to go over and surprise him." She rolled
her eyes. "Yes, Jay, I see your stomach, very nice."
Raye picked up the teddy bear that he had given her for Valentine's
Day and whacked him with it. "Quit showing my friends your abs."
Mina dropped her bags and flopped on her bed. "Any messages?"
"Yeah." Raye gathered up all the yellow Post-its that had been
accumulating on the bedside table. "Your Big Sister called, just wanted
to know if you were back yet, and Kevin, once, I think he forgot you were
gone, um, some girl named Ashley, says she's in your psychology class
and needs to borrow your notes, and your agent, twice."
"Oh crap, guess I better call her," Mina sighed, picking up the
cordless and punching some keys. "If I don't she'll call every five minutes
for the next two days."
Jay picked up his guitar again, acknowledged the odd look from Mina,
and picked through the first chords of "Layla." Raye settled next to him
and cast him a look normally reserved for boy bands and Yankee shortstops.
"Just don't ask me to sing, or they might evacuate the building."
Mina hung up the phone, looking positively shell-shocked. "Oh my
God."
Raye instantaneously slid over to her bed and sat next to her.
"What's the matter, Mina? What happened?"
She couldn't speak for a few seconds. "Raye."
Jay stopped playing mid-chord; for once he was beaten down into
utter seriousness. "What's wrong? Is everything OK?"
Mina put one shaking hand over her mouth, muffling her next words.
"What?" Raye said, leaning closer.
She pulled her hand away from her face. "I got the cover."
"The cover? Of what? 'Rolling Stone'?" Jay mangled through a verse
of Doctor Hook's "Cover of the Rolling Stone."
"Maxim," Mina choked, hardly believing her own ears. Raye's
face remained puzzled, while Jay's jaw practically dropped to his knees.
"You're putting me on!" She shook her head.
"I did a shoot for them over Christmas break," she explained.
"I thought it would be used inside, or not at all, but my agent just
told me that I'm going to be on April's cover."
Jay made some kind of strangled noise and almost fell off the bed.
"Oh my God, Kevin is going to TWEAK when he hears this."
"Don't tell him!" Mina said frantically. "I don't want to get him
all worried, and you know how he'll dwell on it for the rest of his life."
Jay sat up. "Me? Tell him? And get my ass beaten in? Don't worry,
you're secret's safe with me. But what are you going to do when it
comes out?"
"Flee the country?"
"Excuse me," Raye broke into the conversation. "But would one
of you mind telling me what Maxim is? Is it kind of like Hustler?"
"No!" Mina and Jay shouted simultaneously. "Its kind of like
Cosmo for guys," Jay attempted to explain. "But with lots more
pictures of scantily-clad models and no articles like, 'How to
Beat Your Boyfriend into Submission When You Have Your Period.'"
I think that's Raye's Bible.
It dawned on her. "What were you wearing for that shoot?"
Raye asked slowly, dreading the answer as much as, say, Kevin.
Mina looked like she was going to jump out of the window,
which would not lead to her death but probably just a broken leg
or two. My stay in the hospital would probably make Kevin
forget about it. "A white shirt."
"And?" Raye prompted.
Mina nodded. "Not much else." Raye almost erupted.
"Oh my God you're kidding! How many people are going to see
this?"
"Not many," Mina said timidly, staring down at her hands.
"It only has a circulation of about ten million."
"Not including newsstand," Jay piped up, and then fell silent
when thrown a Death Stare from Raye. He began laughing hysterically.
"Oh, man, I can't believe I'm in the same room as the Maxim cover
model! I feel like I should ask for your autograph or something."
"Really?"
"Are you going to get paid for this?"
"Considerably."
"Well," Raye brightened a little. "This could be a huge
stepping stone in your career." Mina nodded.
"Please don't tell anyone yet. I want Kevin to hear it from
me, OK guys?" They nodded.
"Ooh! And just think of how jealous those Seventh Floor
Bitches will be!" Raye cackled in delight; they had been throwing
her dirty looks left and right since she and Jay were made public.
"Crazy Kristen is going to crap her pants! Or split her makeup at
least. Oh, Mina, you should have been here; she tried to wax her
upper lip the other day, but she microwaved the wax too long and
ended up burning her face! She has this big red burn that looks
just like a huge mustache!"
"You're kidding!" They began gossiping rapidly, and Jay had
to smile as they ripped into the not undeserving Kristen. The phone rang.
"I've got it," Jay said. "Hello?"
"Her-ro?" The wizened voice was barely audible; it seemed to
be coming from the end of a long tunnel.
"Hello?" Jay repeated. A string of another language came through,
the only recognizable word being "Raye."
He held out the phone to Raye. "I think it's for you."
She took the phone and held it up to her ear. "Raye Hino
speaking." Then: "Ojii-san!" and a rapid stream of Japanese.
"Who is that?" Jay asked, visions of ex-boyfriends passing
through his mind's eye. Yeah, watch her have had some rock-star
ex-boyfriend, that's why she wasn't impressed with my playing…
"Her grandfather!" Mina giggled, picking up on the waves of
jealousy pouring from Jay's every pore. I swear, it pays to be
the Senshi of Love.
"Oh." Raye continued jabbering away a mile a minute, and Jay
had the feeling that he would be screwed if he ever found himself
lost in downtown Tokyo. She suddenly held the phone out to him.
"Say hi to my grandfather," she suggested in the form of an
order. Jay shook his head so vigorously he almost broke his neck.
"No way! I don't speak Japanese! Besides, it's your grandfather!
Is he a member of the NRA, by any chance?"
"Just say hi to him, he can't hurt you from two thousand
miles away!"
"Uh-uh!" A minor skirmish ensued, ending with the phone
in Jay's hand.
"Hi, uh, Raye's grandfather. This is Jay Melman. I know
you don't speak English, but it's an honor to meet you and you've
raised a fine granddaughter." He thrust the phone to Raye like
it was on fire. "Here!"
"Jeez," she muttered, then translated everything for her
grandfather. "He says it's an honor to meet you too, and he
wonders why you're so nervous."
"He's probably cursing me right now," Jay muttered. His
encounters with fathers had usually ended with a tour of the
family gun cabinet.
"Let me say hi!" Mina grabbed the phone and instantly
switched languages, leaving Jay floundering. He picked up his
guitar again.
"I could do that, I just don't want to."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Lita grabbed the last dry towel before Matt could even
get out of the tub. She bent over and wound it over her soaking
hair, turban-style.
"Oh thanks," Matt said, picking up one of the sodden towels
on the toilet seat and toweling himself off. "I'm going to smell
like wet towel now."
She giggled. "Do you think Zach will mind if I borrow some
of his gel?" She bent down and unraveled her hair from the towel
and began vigorously rubbing it. She flipped over her head to
find Matt's face inches from hers.
They kissed, slowly, their now-clean arms wrapped around
each other. Her hand practically squeaked as she rubbed his upper
arm. "Haven't you had enough?"
"Nope." He bent down and buried his face into her neck. She
sighed. She didn't think any of her friends save Serena knew that
they were shagging, and she hadn't really planned it, it just kind
of snuck in like a runner stealing third.
It was those damn earrings.
Valentine's Day he had stopped by her room. Serena had
gone to Darien's; he was "cooking" dinner for her that night, in
actuality reheating everything that Lita had prepared that morning
and dropped off.
"Oh God," she moaned after she opened the door and found
him standing there, his gorgeous glorious self, while she was
resplendent in a marinara-stained gray sweatshirt and warm-ups.
"I thought it would take you a little longer to get here! I
didn't even shower yet; I think I smell like garlic…"
He bent forward and kissed her. "You look beautiful."
He was flattering her; she knew it. Her hair was screwed
back in a haphazard bun, with a few stray curls sproinging out,
and there was flour encrusted under her fingernails. Her sock
had a hole in the toe. "You look better."
And he did. He smelled like Abercrombie Woods, (with a hint
of cigarette smoke underneath, she noted with heavily veiled disgust)
and that gray sweater was…
"Eighty-four dollars?" Lita reached out and grabbed the ticket
that was poking out from his neck, noting the words "Armani Exchange"
above the numbers. Matt groaned.
"Jay told me I looked fine, that little son of a bitch." He
snapped the ticket off and threw it into Serena's Hello Kitty garbage
can. His neck was crimson.
"Did you buy that sweater just for tonight?" She smiled; they
hadn't even really planned anything in particular. Are you rich?
"No! Well, yeah." He looked down, embarrassed, the cutest
little-boy smile on his face.
"You did, didn't you?" Lita smiled. "You didn't have to do
that." Unless you have lots of disposable income. Are you rich?
Her stomach clenched a little. She was not rich, by any means.
She had slaved her summers and weekends away to buy her car, and
even that wasn't fully paid off yet. She only paid a little for
housing and tuition, since Bryce was very generous when it came to
grants for orphans, but other than that…
"Don't worry about it," he shrugged. "I have something for you."
Her face was strangely tight, he noted. "Yeah, me too,"
she said, pulling a bag from one of the plastic milk crates they
used to shelve books. "I didn't have time to wrap it, I'm sorry."
He pulled the bag off. "Oh, a CD. Thank you."
"Open it," she said. He did, and almost wet himself as
his jaw dropped open.
"Where did you get this?"
She smiled. "Mina gave it me. She was in a couple of
their videos, and needless to say they autographed a lot of her
stuff. The bassist wanted her number too, but she was kind of
scared of him."
"Holy crap. Kevin is going to be so jealous!" He grabbed
her around the waist and kissed her. "Thank you so much!"
"I hoped you would like it." She was so sweet and sincere;
it made his heart melt.
"Yeah now well I feel like a dork," he said, digging in his
pocket and retrieving a black jewelry box. She held it in her
hands, her mouth open, then popped it open, not wanting to wait
to see what was inside.
Two glittering green stones winked back at her. She snapped
it shut again, her entire body rigid in shock. "You didn't,"
she whispered. You are rich!
His brown eyes sparkled. "What are you freaked out about?
I got it at Zales; there's probably five hundred other chicks
walking around this city with the exact same thing. An autographed
CD is one of a kind." Then, unable to contain himself: "Do you
think Mina could hook us up? I mean, like backstage passes and
stuff?"
Lita wasn't listening; she had opened the box again and was s
taring back at the emeralds with tears in her eyes. "I," she
murmured, unable to get anything else out.
Yes! I did good! "Yes?"
However clichéd it seemed, Lita did honestly feel that all
words escaped her. She touched her lips gently, trying her best
to hold back the tears that pricked underneath her eyelids. Matt
gently pulled off her rose earrings, which she could not remember
taking off in the last six years.
"Where did you get these, anyway?" Matt asked. Lita bit her
lip.
"From a friend," she said. From a friend all right, and she
realized suddenly that she hadn't spoken to him since she came to the
States. Nice way to treat your friends, Makoto, real smooth.
She was shocked back into reality when she felt his warm fingers
on her ears. "Look." She stepped in front of her vanity mirror. And
gasped.
"Oh," was all she could say. The emeralds glittered despite
the dingy fluorescent light, and Lita felt the strong urge to see
how they would sparkle in natural sunlight. Green really was her
best color; it brought out the amber and olive in her eyes and the
gold highlights to her hair. Good thing it's my Senshi color.
She shuddered to think of how she would look in Mina's traffic cone
orange if that happened to be her color.
"Thank you so much," she finally blurted. She cast her eyes
downward, too shy to meet his gaze. He picked up her chin with his
fist.
"You're welcome," he said softly, and kissed her on the lips
without so much as bending over. He only had a few inches on her,
and he was six-four.
They kissed until both of their lips were chapped and burned,
and somehow from the middle of the room they maneuvered onto her bed,
and soon after their clothes were on the floor.
"Lita?" Matt asked while they lay there, her head buried in
his shoulder.
"Hmm?" She adjusted so her new earrings didn't jab into her
skull.
"I'm falling for you, hard."
They snuck into his bedroom without being spotted; Kevin and
Darien seemed to be involved in some type of scuffle while Zach
yelled at them to knock it off. Matt shut the door and began searching
for clothes.
Lita pulled her windpants on, and a t-shirt that Raye must
have left behind when she came to see Jay. It was snug around the
chest. Raye was a petite girl; she stood a respectable five four
in flats and was fine-boned and slim, the total opposite of Lita's
rounder curves and six one frame. The only clothes she could somewhat
fit into were Mina's, who stood the second tallest at five nine and
a half and whose chest was somewhere near the caliber of her own.
It helps for basketball, though. She smiled, remembering
the look on Matt's face when she fired a trey right over his head.
Matt flopped on his bed, almost throwing her off with the
impact. "What are you doing?"
He ignored her question. "Come lay with me." She did, curling
her impossibly long legs up towards her chest.
They lay there, spooned, breathing each other's warmth. Lita
pressed her body closer to his, trying to absorb every ounce of his
space and make it part of her own. "Want to order food?" he asked,
out of the blue. She laughed.
"That all you think about?"
"Hey, I just got my ass kicked in two on two. I think that
merits some cheesesteaks."
She smiled and kissed him. "Take me to the store. I'll make
you something."
"Really?" He had known before that Lita was in the School
of Culinary Arts. He just hadn't realized how very deserving she
was of that space until he actually tried her Eggs Benedict and
devoured the entire thing before it had a chance to cool down from
scalding. Zach was the only resident of the house that had a
morsel of culinary skill, and it was limited to hot dogs and
chocolate milk.
"Sure. Get your keys. We'll take the Shaggin' Wagon for a
spin."
" For the love of--! It is not a station wagon!"

* * * * * * * * * * *
Mina just missed Lita and Matt by a few minutes, who were both
leaving with Serena and Darien. Lita had unwisely offered to cook for
Serena too, and they ended up having to take the whole affair to Darien's
because, according to Lita, "He has bigger pans, and if I'm cooking
for Serena…I'm sorry! You know I didn't mean anything by it, girl!"
Amy and Zach had ventured back to her dorm to "study" which was what
they were calling it these days. Raye and Jay hadn't been back to
the apartment yet, and probably weren't going to return.
Kevin had settled down like a potted plant in front of the
television with his history book balanced on one knee and a TV
guide on the other, trying to gauge which had more value: catching
up on his reading or an impromptu "ALF" marathon on TV Land. Jesus
H. Christo, I have to buckle down with my work; one day I'm going to
be in charge of entire armies of Earth and defend an entire friggin'
planet from outside threats and I'm sitting here wondering if eons
of rises and falls of ancient civilizations are parallel with a
midget in an alien suit. He idly flipped through the channels,
not realizing that five channels ago he had flipped past a rebroadcast
of the movie "Codename Sailor V," on Cinemax, starring none other
than his girlfriend at the age of thirteen years old. Someone
knocked.
"I'll get it," he said aloud to the empty apartment.
Mina's eyes lit up like a thousand birthday candles when
he opened the door. She watched with amusement as his expression
went from delighted to shocked to puzzled, and she knew what was
coming.
"You cut your hair," he said simply, like she did it every
day. She mouthed the words along with him. Oh he looks so cute
when he's all confused!
She smiled and threw herself at him, grabbing him around
the chest and squeezing. He squeezed back, nearly cutting off
her air. She pressed her face against his shirt, inhaling his
heat and scent while he kissed the top of her head. "I saved you
a trip to the airport," she said once enough oxygen had filled her
lungs to speak.
"How did you get home?"
"I called a cab."
He released her, but kept his huge hands wrapped around
her biceps. "You should have called me." His voice was all
business.
She put on her best don't-be-mad-at-me face. "I wanted to
surprise you."
Kevin reached up and fingered one of the shorter layers
framing her face. "I'm surprised." He bent down and kissed her
so lightly she didn't know if she imagined it.
"Yeah, well, it always comes back when I'm Sailor--," A guy
came down the hall and passed her. "Uh, when I'm sailing." That
had to be the worst cover I've ever come up with!
The guy was stuffing an obviously oversized garbage bag down
the chute, and it seemed to have gotten stuck. Kevin looked up
briefly before returning his gaze to her face. "Oh, yeah, mine
does too. I also experience, um, nautical hair." You idiot, it's
not going to fit down the chute! Just walk it down to the dumpster,
you lazy moron, you're only on the third floor!
Despite Kevin's mental abuse, the hapless guy managed to cram
the overstuffed Hefty down the shaft. They could hear it slide
slowly down the sides of the narrow metal chute. He exited the
stairwell.
Mina turned back to the object of her affection. "I missed
you," she murmured, standing slightly on tiptoes to kiss him.
Their faces met halfway. God did I miss him. I must have thought
of him once every two seconds, minimum. She dropped her purse
on the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Two guys passed them in the hallway, one laden down with
pizza boxes. "Aw, Belles, take it inside!" One yelled. Mina
and Kevin broke apart, both reddening.
"Yeah bro!" The other hooted. They disappeared inside of
4C.
Wanting to face no other hallway interrogations, they
moved inside and remembered to bolt the door behind them. Mina
got right down to business. "So did I miss anything?" She
didn't mean any good parties, either, and Kevin wouldn't have
thought otherwise.
"No, it was actually a pretty quiet weekend. We had one
attack today, a single youma, and we took care of it no problem."
Mina screwed up her face.
"Only one? I wonder what Beryl's up to." She bit her lower
lip. "You know the drill, right? Anything you think you can't
handle…"
"I know, call you and you'll teleport over." He didn't
really like the idea of her teleporting such long distances; the
one and only time she had teleported from over five miles away
had drained her so much that she almost immediately fainted after
making the scene.
They settled on the couch; obviously the ALF marathon had
triumphed over History 121. Mina snuggled under Kevin's arm,
letting her head droop onto his chest. She must have been more
exhausted than she previously thought, because the next thing she
knew the phone was ringing and "ALF" had been replaced with "All
in the Family".
"Yeah, OK." Kevin hung up. "Matt is staying over Lita's."
The muffled sounds of a party drifted up through the floor.
She blinked and tried to wipe some of the crud out of her
eyes. "Where is everyone, anyway?"
"At someone else's place. We've got the whole house to
ourselves."
Mina involuntarily shuddered. She felt a little uneasy
whenever they were by themselves, not because she felt nervous
around him, but for one simple fact that had been bugging her for
over a month. She hadn't told him she was a virgin yet, and they
really hadn't gone that far to begin with and even though he was
one of the most mature and respectful guys she had met, the fact
remained that he was still male, and in the 18-34 age demographic,
and therefore horny. She didn't really know how to bring it up for
one thing, and she wasn't really sure if she was ready to go that
far, and how exactly she felt about Kevin was enough to send her
mind reeling into a single sentence that contained more than one
rambling thought and seemed to have no end in sight…
Kevin yawned. "Do you want to stay over?" Her eyes widened
until one could see Archie Bunker reflected off the blue orbs.
"What?" she croaked, wishing her voice didn't sound as
tight and dry as it did.
He absently scratched his arm. "Stay over here tonight.
Tomorrow I'll take you to class."
Her stomach tightened. "Um, OK." She lay back down on
his stomach.
"Let's go in my bed," he said after a few minutes, and
stood up. Mina sat on the couch like an anchor.
"Um, why?" she asked. He looked down on her and smiled;
she looked so innocent and sweet, just like a little girl.
"Because I kind of don't fit on the couch," he explained.
He held his hand out. "Come on."
She looked at him for a few seconds. "I don't know."
He didn't have a chance to respond to that, because she cut
him off by blurting out, "I'm a virgin."
He almost laughed at the situation, if her eyes hadn't been
so serious. "Mina…"
"I mean, I don't know, I mean, I don't think that, well,
um, I, uh…"
"Mina."
"Like, if you were expecting something else…"
"Mina?"
"I didn't know how to bring it up, and I know…"
"Mina!" She stopped jabbering and looked up at him. "I
meant sleep, you know, REM, that sort of thing?"
She felt her face burning hotter than Raye's sacred fire.
"Oh. Yeah. I knew that."
"I wasn't trying to get with you."
Silence. "Not that I wouldn't want to, God, I'd be crazy
not to want to..."
"I understand," Mina said, standing up. They stood,
staring at each other for a few seconds. Kevin broke the silence.
"God, I'm an idiot."
Mina smiled. "I am too. We belong together."
We belong together.
Once inside the bedroom, Mina stripped down to her underwear
by the dim light of the desk lamp and crawled into Kevin's bed.
Outside, a low rumble of thunder rolled in from the distance.
Kevin clicked off the desk lamp and crawled in next to her,
wrapping his arms around her and drawing her body towards him.
She sighed happily and snuggled into his embrace.
"You're a man wall, you know?" she muttered sleepily.
And he was. His body was as hard as a galvanized anvil.
She awoke several hours later, to the sound of rain pattering
against the roof and windows. She turned her head as far as
Kevin's elbow around her neck would allow, and watched the rills
of water streaming down the glass windowpane. Lightening flashed
blue-white, and a few seconds later thunder crashed overhead.
Mercury and Jupiter. She thought idly.
She turned her head back around, her face resting inches
from Kevin's. Lightening flashed again, illuminating his face.
She touched his cheek, rubbed her hand against his jaw line. His
pale eyelashes seemed to faintly glow in the dim light. He was
so beautiful; it hurt to look at him. She leaned forward and
kissed him gently. He didn't stir.
God, he really can sleep through the Apocalypse! He
rolled over, mumbled something like, "…can't be seen here."
Mina tried again, kissing his face and his neck until he
opened his eyes. "Hey you."
His fuzzy brain tried futilely to process through the dew
of sleep. "What time is it?" he asked in the false presumption
that it was time for class.
"I don't know," Mina breathed, pressing her face closer
to his and kissing him. He kissed her back, one hand running
through her much-shorter hair. She pressed against his body
with her own and ran her hands over his back, all the time
smothering him with a kiss containing more than passion; it
contained their souls. She moaned a little as he started kissing
her neck. They rolled until she was on top of him.
Mina's eyes were closed, so she couldn't see that Kevin's
were open the entire time. Is she trying to kill me or
something? He didn't know what to make of her extreme
signs of affection right after her nervous declaration of
virginity. All he knew was that he was having one hell of a
time controlling himself when the girl of his dreams has just
assaulted him. What's worse, he didn't think he could stop.
She broke away, opened her eyes and met his. She stared
into them, seeing past the optic functions and saw him, the
essence of what made him human. It was then that her mind was
made up. He stared back, drowning in blue and wondering if
she really was an angel, because she was too beautiful to be
human. Something passed between them, and the next thing Kevin
knew he was hearing his own voice.
"I love you." Immediately alarms went off in his head,
fearing the worst.
Mina leaned in closer, brushing her lips against his eyelids.
He sucked in his breath. "I love you," she whispered, her heart
pounding so hard she could hear blood coursing in her ears.
"I've loved you since I first saw you in the bookstore." She ran
her lips down his face. "I've loved you before I even saw your
face."
She sat up slightly and pulled her bra off over her head,
wiggled out of her underwear. Lightening flashed through the
windows.
She bent back down, her hair brushing his face. He
swallowed. "Mina, are you
s--?"
"Yes."
Outside, thunder rumbled, low and long.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Serena yawned, unabashedly exposing her tonsils to
her boyfriend. She snuggled down, trying to get comfortable
against Darien's chest. He wrapped his arms around her. Despite being
wrapped in the warmest, safest spot outside of the human womb, an
overwhelming feeling of foreboding was saturating her to the cracks
of her teeth. It gripped at her in the darkness like a disembodied
hand, feeling around for a fissure it could pervade. She shut her
eyes tight to it, closed her mouth, resisted the urge to pinch
her nostrils shut. She wanted to cry out to it, beg it to leave
her alone, but she knew that once it did, it would simply spread
on, to Darien, perhaps, then Raye, or Mina or Amy or whoever was
closest and most unfortunate.
"Can you feel it?" Her voice was thunderous in the thick
silence.
Darien opened his eyes and stared down at her delicate
profile. She was so small, so innocent, it was almost hard to
believe how much power she possessed. But she was still human,
still vulnerable. "Yes." It pricked at him too, and filled
him with the same kind of fear that was brimming in Serena.
"Its-terrible. It's so cold it hurts."
She sighed. "Beryl's hate is cold. Cold enough to burn.
Darien, I-" her voice choked. "I don't know how to stop it.
And it's coming, I can feel it. That witch won't stop until
we're all dead, especially me."
He gripped her so hard she gasped. "I won't let it
happen."
"What if you can't stop it? She defeated us once,
remember? We thought we had the upper hand, and the kingdom
still fell. What are we going to do differently this time if
we can't remember what happened then?"
He ground his teeth in the darkness. Outside, the acrid
electrical feel of the air was brewing itself into a tempest.
"I don't know, Serena. But I'll do anything to protect you and
this Earth. And this time I have backup."
"I won't let you die for me," she whispered to him after
he had fallen asleep. A tear escaped her eye and skated down
her cheek and onto her brooch. She wore it in her sleep anymore;
she was afraid not to. Mother, please help us. We can't do
it alone. Her mind grew heavy and she slept.

* * * * * * * * * * *
Darien thought he was awake. His bedroom was dark, Serena
was breathing heavily under his arm, and he could hear Artemis
in the hallway purring in his sleep. The room was slightly
muggy; it was thunderstorming outside. Underneath the crashing
of thunder, he could barely detect a car alarm whining in the
distance. Everything seemed the same; completely normal if
Queen Serenity hadn't been standing in front of his closet,
illuminating the room with soft white light.
"You're dreaming, Darien," she said to him before he could
reach over and pinch himself. "I chose to appear to you this way;
otherwise, this would cause quite a scene to others, wouldn't it?"
He opened and closed his mouth automatically. "Is Serena
dreaming of you too?" He didn't doubt for a second that this was
really THE Queen standing before him; he also didn't doubt that
she couldn't appear in two places at once. Or three. Or ten.
She smiled; her face so much like Serena's it was almost
impossible to distinguish the two. "Yes, she is. But what she
sees tonight will not be the same as what you see. Or what everyone
else sees." She extended one hand to him. "I need to show
you, Endymion. I didn't know when I would, but Beryl draws
closer every day, and we don't have much time left."
He left his bed and the comfort of the embrace upon it.
"What am I going to see?"
"I'm afraid I can't show you everything, it would be too
much to process and might drive you insane. You wouldn't be able
to separate your old life from your new, your Silver Millennium
memories from your present ones." She looked genuinely sorry that
she couldn't show her everything. "I can only show you what you
did not see, and I hope it will be of some help."
"I understand, your Highness," Darien said. "Thank you."
He took her hand; the skin on it was so pale and delicate it
could have been the petal of a white flower. She looked exactly
like her daughter, but through her hand Darien felt the years and
wisdom under the surface, and was calmed by it. She exuded peace,
composure, tranquility power so great Darien felt that if they
had her on their side, they could take on the Dark Kingdom, the
National Guard, and the Denver Broncos all at the same time and
emerge victorious.
The room swirled around him and blurred together into
blackness. Darien squeezed Serenity's hand. "What's happening?"
She placed her other hand on top of his. "We're going
back, Endymion, back to a time and place you have long forgotten."
She looked directly into his eyes. "These are just shadows, remember
that. The people within cannot see or hear you. You can't change
the outcome, because it already has been decided. The modern
equivalent of it would be television." She smiled again, this
time in amusement. "My daughter seems to be addicted to it."
"Yeah." Darien felt his own face crack into a grin. Serena
did like her television; that was an undisputed fact.
He felt the air change first. The temperature plummeted
until it nipped at his bare skin and raised goose bumps. His bare
toes felt like they had been plunged in ice water. He exhaled
white air vapors; Serenity did not. Something smelled wrong, too,
a coppery odor hung heavily in the frigid air. The surface
beneath his feet grew colder, too, and was peppered with little
rocks. Darien breathed onto his frozen fingers and took in the
scene before him.
They were in a room with dark stone walls and floor, cold
and undecorated. It reminded Darien of basic prison lodging in
Alcatrez. A single barred window let in thin streams of silver
moonlight, the only means of illumination besides Queen Serenity
herself. Then he saw the four bodies.
Darien clapped his hands over his mouth, partially with horror
and partially to keep himself from vomiting. Wave after wave of
dizziness assaulted him, until he felt that it would stop only when
his head exploded. They were there, in front of him. Three of
them were gone; the fourth was almost there, and he could only
stand there and watch. The Prince of Earth had been demoted to
innocent bystander.
Kunzite was definitely the most horrifying. He lay to Darien's
far right, next to a wooden door that looked as thick and impassive
as the solid stone walls. It was ironically barred, as if the four
occupants inside were that much of a flight risk. He lay in a huge
pool of blood, his uniform and hair soaked maroon, no doubt from the
huge slash that ran across his throat. Darien was suddenly reminded
of those news reports on TV of oil spills, and how the greasy crude
would cling to the feathers of hapless birds and dye their pillowy
feathers black as they writhed with pain and died, their insides
poisoned from the same thing that coated their bodies. There even
was a splash pattern of it over his face, so that every part of
him was saturated dark with blood except his eyes, leaving Darien
no choice but to focus on them. His gray eyes were open, but
flat, unseeing, the life flown from them. They were horrible,
the reminder that Kunzite was indeed gone. He was thoughts,
feelings, memories, not the cold body on the floor.
"No," Darien felt himself whisper. Jadeite lay nearest to Kunzite,
and his eyes were mercifully closed. Several spots of blood had
leaked through his white uniform, presumably from broken bones.
His face was puffed and bloody, and Darien wondered why it wasn't
bruised before he realized that Jadeite had died before his
blood had a chance to clot. It was unfathomable to see Jadeite
dead; Darien half expected, no, half wished that he would
suddenly sit up with a big grin on his face. "Ha, got you!
Did you really think I was dead, Endymion? Gods, you're easier
to trick than Zoicite!"
Darien had to smile despite the lump in his throat; Jadeite
had obviously gone down fighting, there was no other way he
would go down. He had died how he had lived.
Zoicite lay crumpled next to the far wall. His face was as pale as candle
wax, but other than that Darien could see no other physical
injuries besides a thin trickle of blood from his ear. He simply
looked as if he had suddenly fallen ill and decided to go to
sleep where he had been standing. Farther up the wall was a
splash pattern of blood, about eye level with Darien. He
wanted to go up to Zoicite, shake him, wake him out of the nap
he was in before he started snoring.
Someone gasped. Darien swiveled around instinctively.
Nephrite lay at Queen Serenity's feet, and she was staring down
sadly at him. He was still alive, shivering on the cold ground,
his hand pressed against one of the bleeding wounds on his sides.
His eyes were shut, and tears had washed tracks through the blood
on his face. Darien guessed that he had been standing directly
in front of Kunzite when he had been executed. His lips moved
in an inaudible prayer, and Darien dropped to his knees beside him.
"Nephrite!" he cried, grabbing for one of his hands. It
simply passed through, like grabbing a cloud. He tried again, and
the same thing happened. He shook his head numbly and turned to
Serenity.
"Please," he begged. "You have the power."
She shook her head, her flowing silver ponytails swaying
back and forth softly like gauze curtains in front of an open
window. "I'm sorry Endymion, I can't do anything that would
affect the future…"
"He won't know!" By the way she bristled, Darien was
immediately sorry that he had shouted. "Please," he choked again,
the lump in his throat making it difficult to enunciate. "Don't
let him die alone."
Serenity closed her eyes momentarily; in the pale glow of
moonlight, she was too beautiful to describe. He didn't notice
her touching her brooch, since at that moment he touched Nephrite's
hand and felt it, as solid and clammy as ever.
He squeezed it; Nephrite did not squeeze back. He didn't
seem to give any indication that he was even aware of Darien's
presence, much less his touch. "Nephrite, it's me, Endymion!
Can you hear me? Nephrite!" His voice was high and tight with
desperation. He felt someone touch his shoulder lightly, and
almost jumped out of his skin. "Can't you do anything?" He asked
Serenity. "You have the crystal, can't you save him?" Oh God,
save at least one. I couldn't take it if all four were gone.
Please, I can't live without them.
A tear slipped down her face as she shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Endymion, I can't change the past. These are all
just memories, remember."
He turned his attention back to Nephrite, who was shaking
so violently that his teeth clicked together. He said something.
"What?" Darien bent his head over until his ear was almost
in Nephrite's mouth.
"Rei," he whispered weakly. "Rei-please hear me." His
breath was coming too fast, too shallow. "Rei, please-" He fell
silent, and Darien suddenly understood. Nephrite, the most
psychic among them, was desperately trying to relay a message
to Rei, another clairvoyant, and the only person that would be
able to receive such a telepathic message. Even Darien,
possibly the most non-telepathic person on the face of the
earth besides Kunzite, felt the thin hums of energy pass tangibly
around him as Nephrite's mental currents emanated from his
mind with astounding power.
He coughed wetly, bringing up blood, and Darien's stomach
sank when he realized that Nephrite was dying in front of him.
Mamoru Chiba had never actually seen another human being die,
and fear mixed with sorrow overwhelmed him and he began weeping.
"Please, Nephrite, don't," he pleaded, all the time knowing
it was useless. Nephrite's lips stopped moving, and his breath
came slower. Darien gripped his hand so tight he broke two
of Nephrite's fingers, but he wasn't conscious to feel it. He
cradled his trembling body in his lap. "Nephrite, it's OK,
I'm here. I won't leave you. I'm-" His voice cut out and he
sobbed.
It was incredibly horrifying to watch another human
die, simply because death didn't work as cleanly as in the
movies, when one World War II soldier whispered his last
goodbyes and keeled over neatly in his comrade's arms.
Real death was slow, painful, merciless. Nephrite hung on
for another twenty agonizing minutes, struggling in his
shallow, slow breaths and exhaling death, trembling from cold
and shock. Darien stayed with his friend until his breathing
slowed until it stopped, like a watch winding down, and his
shaking body relaxed and was still.
Darien bowed his head and wept until he had dehydrated
his body of tears.
Gently, like he was handling a newborn, he laid
Nephrite's head back onto the hard stone floor.
"Endymion?" Serenity's voice momentarily startled
him out of his grief.
He raised his eyes to her, and was shocked to see
that her eyes were as pain-filled as his own. "What is
this place?" he asked, already half-knowing the answer.
She extended one hand and helped him to his feet.
"Some hidden corner of the Dark Kingdom, somewhere so deeply
buried that only Metallia, Beryl, and her inner circle would
know where to find it. Do you understand why I brought you
here, to see these things?"
Darien nodded; he knew. It was hurting Serenity to
show it almost as much as it was hurting him to see, but he
knew what she was saying. "This cannot happen again, Endymion.
You think you are invincible now," she glanced quickly at the
still bodies lying on the floor. "You also thought you were
invincible then."
"I understand." He spoke the truth.
"Please, Endymion, Darien, Mamoru, protect the Earth and
the people upon it, for your own sake and the future's.
Metallia must not win; the Dark Kingdom must be defeated or
history-" She gestured. "-will undoubtedly repeat itself. I
trust you, I know that you will make everything right." She
smiled and embraced him. "I'm sending you back now. Do not
forget what you have seen and remember what I have told you.
We can win this, Endymion, this time perhaps with less sacrifice."
"I'll never forget," he said. "How can I?"
Her breath was close to his ear when she spoke. "I
showed Serena something different, but she will know what to
do." She smiled and kissed him gently on the forehead. "Now
awaken, Darien."
"Thank you-" he managed to get out before she disappeared,
and the blackness rushed in to fill the void that her light once
filled. He had a sudden vision of the present: he saw himself
lying in bed with Serena, her head tucked under his arm. He
saw Mina and Kevin sleeping in each other's arms as water dripped
steadily down the windowpane. Saw Lita and Matt curled into
spoons on Serena and Lita's beds pushed together. Saw Zach and
Amy asleep on top of the covers of Amy's bed, both having crashed
fully clothed, Zach merrily snoring away. Saw Raye wearing Jay's
T-shirt as she yawned and rolled over on top of him.
He awoke to daylight, to Serena's dead weight pressing
down on his arm, which he couldn't feel at all. "Hey," he said
softly, shaking her.
She sat upright and gasped. "Darien, my mother-"
"I know."
* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Hey guys," Zach said, stepping aside and letting Matt
and Lita enter. "How was class?"
"Sucked," Lita grouched. "I can't believe I made my
eight o' clock. Oh, hey guys." Amy and Jay were sitting at
the kitchen table, books open in front of them. Apart from the
scratching of pencils, the apartment was completely silent.
Matt ran into the bathroom to pee.
"Hi," Amy replied, sending Jay into a snit.
"C'mon Amy, concentrate! I only have an hour until this
test!"
"Ok!" She turned her attention back to teaching Jay two
month's worth of chemistry in sixty minutes.
"Why is it so quiet in here-gaah!" Matt had turned and
glimpsed a sight that he could have lived his life very happily
without seeing: Kevin and Mina asleep in bed, both clearly
naked. "Jeez Louise why hell can't they just shut the door?"
Everyone looked at him strangely, especially Lita.
"Matt, what are you talking about?" she asked carefully,
like a hostage negotiator.
"Them!" he spat, waving towards the scene of the crime.
"Kevin, Mina, they're naked and they didn't even close the
door! Oh my God, I think I've lost ninety percent of my vision!"
Now they were looking at him like he was completely
insane. Amy and Zach exchanged glances, and Zach shrugged.
Lita took over. "Um, Matt," she said gently. "The door
IS closed."
He looked back, and did a double take. Lita was right;
the door was closed, and he was facing a solid wall. His
mouth dropped open; he wondered if he really clinically was
going insane. "But-" he muttered, not knowing what else to
say.
Zach opened the bedroom door and crack, peeked in, and
quickly shut it again. "You're right." He knitted his brow
together as he thought. "Hold on one second." He ran in the
bathroom, shut the door, and called through: "OK, Matt, tell
me what you see…now!"
Matt faced the door, at first only seeing the white
paint of the door like always, but then it seemed to waver
and melt away, and the white faded from view and he could
see through the door like glass. Zach was inside, facing
Matt, his middle finger upraised.
"I see you flipping me off," Matt said loudly, not
caring if he woke everyone up. "Zach! I can see through
walls!" His voice rose to a pitch he hadn't hit since before
puberty.
"Holy crap," Jay said, joining them in the hallway.
"Matt, you have like, Spidey-Sense."
Amy instantly whipped out her computer and started
calculating. "Well, this is quite unusual," she mumbled to
herself.
"Care to share?" Lita grumbled.
"It seems like all three of you have some, how shall
we call it? Latent magic?" Everyone's ears piqued with interest.
"According to my calculations, this magic stayed in with your
bodies from your past lives, and it manifests itself in
individual ways. Zach, you can create new material simply
by touching the old. You can obviously see through walls,
Matt."
"It takes some concentration," he explained, rubbing his
forehead to alleviate the pain behind his eyes. "My eyes hurt."
"That should pass," she said flippantly. "And Kevin has
photographic memory, so that just leaves you, Jay."
Jay swallowed. "I know! But I suck; I haven't been able
to do anything magical yet except pass out all the time." He
ran his hand nervously through his hair, and continued.
"Everyone else seems to have all these abilities and what
if I never develop any? I mean-" He stopped when he realized
everyone was staring at him with their eyes popping out of
their heads. "What is it?"
Zach lifted one finger and pointed. "Your-your head!"
he gasped. "Jay, look what you did to your hair!"
He frowned. "Straub, what the hell are you talking
about?"
"Just go look!"
"OK! Jeez…" He clicked the light on in the bathroom.
I'll show them. He casually turned to the mirror, all
Rico Suave, and almost fainted.
His hair was blue. Completely blue. So blue that he
and Amy looked like fraternal twins. He rushed back out into
the hallway, his eyes wild.
"What the hell happened?" he screamed. The door opened
behind them and Kevin leaned out, bleary-eyed.
"Would you guys, holy hell!" He stared at Jay, incredulous.
"What did you dye your hair for?"
"I didn't dye it!" Jay said, frantically grabbing at it.
Two silver patches appeared from underneath his hands when he
took them away.
"Whoa!" Lita exclaimed. "What the hell is going on?"
She took his head in her hands and examined it. Amy had an
epiphany.
"Jay?"
"Yeah?"
"When you first touched your head, were you looking at
me?"
Jay faltered, his blue and silver hair comical against
the scared s-less expression on his face. "I don't know! I
guess so! Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?
If Raye sees me with blue hair she'll have me by my balls!"
Amy reached over, grabbed Matt's arm, and positioned
him in front of Jay. "All right, Jay, I want you to do
something for me. Close your eyes." He closed them.
"Concentrate really hard on what Matt looks like. Imagine
his hair color, his eye color, how his face is shaped, how
big his ears are…"
"What up? My ears aren't big!"
"Just picture it in your head, Jay, don't think of
anything else."
"OK." His voice came out in a whisper as he squeezed
his eyes shut.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"OK, now run your hands over your head."
Jay placed his hands over his face and wiped upwards
over his face and through his hair. The new face emerging
from his hands had a rounder jaw, a longer nose, and a darker
shadow of beard. The hair was brown and considerably shorter
than Jay's blond mop. It was Matt's face, Matt's hair, and
when the eyes were opened, Matt's brown eyes.
Five jaws dropped, Matt's the lowest. "Oh," he managed
to squeak.
"My God," Kevin finished for him. Jay popped into the
bathroom again, and screamed.
"YES! FINALLY!!! I HAVE A POWER!!!"
"It's almost like he has a built-in disguise pen,"
Amy said, pulling up more data on her computer.
"I CAN MAKE MYSELF LOOK LIKE DEREK JETER! OR BILL
GATES! OR THE PRESIDENT!"
"Anyone else think that Jay should NOT be the one
possessing this kind of power?" Zach asked the general
populace. "This is like giving a five year old an AK-47."
"Or like giving Serena a credit card," Mina said,
emerging from the bedroom wearing last night's extremely
wrinkled clothes. Kevin put his arm around her.
Jay popped out of the bathroom, this time sporting
black hair and blue eyes. "Hey look I'm Darien! Do you
think Serena will know the difference?"
"Oh, yeah, I feel real safe," Lita moaned, escaping
to the safety of the living room and TV.
At that moment, the real Darien Chiba burst through
the door without knocking, carrying a plastic Wal-Mart bag
with what looked like a toy plastic boomerang poking out.
"Hey everyone-JEEZ!" A flash of light temporarily blinded
everyone, and Tuxedo Mask stood where Darien had been
moments ago.
Jay tossed his head back, transforming back to
his normal visage as he did so. "No! Wait! Darien, it's
just me!"
Tuxedo Mask pulled off his eyewear. "How on God's
green Earth did you do that?!"
"I rule," Jay said simply. Darien simply shook his
head.
"Anyway, what time do you guys have class?"
"An hour."
"Two hours."
"Not until one."
"Uh, actually, now, I think."
"I need to see you guys tonight," Darien spoke only
to the guys. "It's imperative."
They exchanged looks, confused. "Sure, Darien," Matt
said. "What's going on?"
Darien clutched his bag tighter, so that the rubber
boomerang bent under the pressure of his hands. "They're
coming. We have to be prepared this time."


************************************************************

ok as you noticed at the top of this one...i had no idea
what to write when i started...but im getting there!
thank you to everyone who emailed me, you don't know
how much it means....thank you again!
Venusorbit1@aol.com